Lead Water Main: Montreal Lacks Coordination

CORPIQ deplores the inconsistency that the City of Montreal continues to display in regards to its project to replace 60,000 lead water service lines on its territory.

The metropolis has recently distributed more than 360,000 leaflets in which residents were asked to check if the composition of their water service pipes was made of lead. Indeed, some homes built before 1970 may still be linked to the water system by a lead connection. 

But while the City of Montreal requests the cooperation of property owners in its communication campaign, the leaflets were sent to tenants instead. They were advised of the presence of lead’s potential health risk, but informed that no cases of poisoning have been reported in the city.

This has created unnecessary confusion and fear, especially since no imminent work has yet been announced.

In addition, CORPIQ believes that it is completely unnecessary to change the private section of a lead pipe without already knowing when the City will work on replacing the pipes of the public domain, a view also shared by Projet Montréal.

As specified in the City’s brochure, «if no municipal intervention is yet programmed on your street, we suggest you proceed anyway to replace the private section of your entrance. You can then forward your application to the City for the replacement of the remaining public section». This does not solve the problem; the City should instead give owners notice of when replacement work will be scheduled in their area and then coordinate with owners for the replacement of the private section.

For property owners, the replacement of the lines located between the sidewalk and their residence, can easily amount to several thousand dollars, although they have no obligation to carry out the work. One cannot help but wonder why invest so much money in a project of this scale if the public part will remain unchanged.